Business

Now through June 26, 2011, Tropical Smoothie Café offers customers an opportunity to purchase a great smoothie for a great cause. The national franchise company commits to donating a portion of the proceeds to their national charity partner, Camp Sunshine, from the sale of one of the top-selling smoothies, the Sunrise Sunset. With strawberries, pineapple, orange and mango blended to perfection, Tropical Smoothie Café treats its customers in every sip of the Sunrise Sunset smoothie.

Jennifer and Dave Edwards are proud parents of 2 healthy twin boys, Jack and Luke. At 16 weeks into their pregnancy, doctors told the parents-to-be that one of their babies had no amniotic fluid and to prepare for the worst. At just 19 weeks, Jennifer started having contractions and was immediately admitted into the hospital. She made it to 32 weeks and delivered the two boys at Wolfson Children’s Hospital on September 7, 2007. Jack and Luke each weighed a little over 2 lbs. and were able to go home after 8 weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).The boys were transported and treated with equipment that was purchased by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, with funds raised by their corporate sponsors such as Publix.

At the American Advertising Federation’s National ADDY competition, one small multicultural agency truly shined. Playing in the big leagues, Brunet-García Advertising won three gold and one silver national awards – the most of any agency in Florida and the Caribbean. Only one other multicultural/Hispanic agency received an award at the national level. The winners were selected from 1,382 entries from a full range of advertising agencies around the country.

BG received Gold ADDY awards for the Block x Block Illustrations, the Players by the Sea “The Full Monty” poster and the Players by the Sea poster series. A Silver ADDY was also awarded for the Players by the Sea building design.

Summer may have you daydreaming about an exotic vacation, whether it’s lounging on the sun-drenched coast of southern France, hiking Argentina’s foothills, bungee jumping in New Zealand or diving into the clear, blue waters of Greece. With Whole Foods Market’s Top 10 Summer Wines, you can settle into a sultry summer by opening a bottle of wine to enjoy a taste of an exotic locale without leaving your own backyard or spending a pretty penny.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Home inspector Dave Sorge was on the job today with another home inspection to complete.

Five years ago when he started "Inspect -it 1st," his industry was unregulated and tainted by shoddy home inspections. "The free market weeded out those guys that don't belong," he said.

And a new law that makes every inspector get a state license, will make it even more difficult for a bad inspector to remain in business, he said. "Is licensing really the cure for substandard performance? We'll see," he said.

But the grandfathering of longtime inspectors, Sorge said, allows inspectors to be licensed with the most minimum qualifications.

"You could conceivably get a home inspector who has never performed a home inspection yet is qualified and licensed," said Sorge.